April 4, 2024 • 7 mins
Brenden Haywood, former North Carolina and NBA big man, sits down with Dave Softy Mahler at Radio Row at the Final Four to talk about his rival N.C. State beating Duke and playing Purdue, UConn playing Alabama, and the new NIL era in college athletics.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Thank you so much for jumping onthe air with us and joining us.
And I gotta first of all askyou about just your days as a North
Carolina tar heel. I'm a Huskyfan, and I gotta be honest with
you. If Oregon were here,I'd be vomiting all over this place.
How hard is it for you towatch NC State in the final four as
a tar heel? It's not thathard for me. It's simply this NC
(00:22):
State did me a service. Theymade sure State didn't get there. I
understand Carolina and State arrivals, butthe robbery runs a lot deeper with Duke.
So just the fact that State madesure that Duke did make it to
the final four. They're all goodwith me right now. I love that
I got you well. Brendan Haywoodagain is with us, and we're just
talking to Robbie Humble a while back, the former produce star Brendan about you
(00:42):
con and why they don't get mentionedin the same breath as the Carolinas and
the Dukes and the Kentucky's. Theygot three championships with three different coaches in
the last ten twelve years, forgod sakes, yet nobody puts them in
that blue blood class. Why isthat? I'm not sure why it is,
but I tell you what has tochange. Yukon is definitely in the
blue blood class. Like you said, they have three championships with three different
(01:06):
coaches. You're talking Jim Calhoun,Coach Hurley, Kevin Ollie. That's three
different coaches that just talks to youabout how strong the program has been.
Even though there's been turnover, there'sbeen championship level basketball being played up there.
So I think Yukon, especially ifthey pull off another championship, but
back to back, which rarely getsdone in college basketball or in sports in
(01:26):
general, you definitely have to mentionthem with the elite blue bloods like Carolina
and Duke. Yeah, no question. Brendan Hayward again with us courtesy a
bet online dot NAT. Check outbet online for the most up to date
men's and women's game lines and uniqueprops for the Final Four. And I
was gonna ask Robbie and never gota chance to do it about just the
wounded animal you know of NC State. They got nothing to lose, They're
(01:47):
not even supposed to be here.Man, how dangerous do you think they
really are? When it comes tothis matchup with Purdue on Saturday. I
think NC State is dangerous because atthis time of the year, anybody can
beat anybody's one and done setting.One guy can have an incredible night,
or your team can just shoot theball poorly. So in that type of
setting, unlike the NBA where you'replaying like the best of seven, like,
(02:10):
in this type of setting, everybody'sdangerous. But I do feel that
NC State is very fortunate because theirlast couple of opponents have missed wide open
threes at an alarming rate. ThatMarquette game, Marquette was three for thirty
one from three, and a lotof those threes there wasn't a State player
within five yards of the guys shooting. The guys were just missing open shots.
(02:31):
This is a Yukon team. Brendanand again Brendan Haywood whether that it's
just been pummeling people going back tothe Big East Championship against Marquette, but
they have been beaten. They're notsome unbeatable juggernaut that nobody has taken down.
So if you're Alabama, if you'renatos right, if you're looking for
some magic recipe to bring down thethousand pounds giant in the Yukon Huskies.
(02:53):
What's your game plan Saturday for that? Well, the good thing for Alabama
is the only way for them tobeat you gone is the way they beat
everybody hit a lot of threes.One way Alabama's gonna win that game is
if they go into that mid pickand roll with the big fellow who's gonna
be in drop coverage and they exploitit and whether that Sears or whoever,
they have to knock down a bunchof threes, make sure that drop coverage
(03:15):
works against Yukon and figure that out. If they can do that, they
can win the basketball game. Yeah. Former North Carolina star Brendan Haywood again
with us on the air courtesy abet online dot networth at the Final Four.
And Man, I'm wondering about justyour thoughts on the changing landscape of
college basketball. You know, ourteam, the Huskies Washington heading to the
Big Ten next year with USC,UCLA and Oregon n I L. You
(03:38):
know guys transferring after a year,coaches leaving right and left. What's your
take on just the entire thing andhow rapid the rate of change has been
the last couple of years. Yougot embrace change because college basketball is changing.
Like you said, the conferences,I think Stanford's gonna be in the
ACC next year. Like that's that'sgonna be wild for me to see.
We're gonna we're talking about guys gettingpaid now. So now these coaches have
(04:02):
to re recruit their own guys,and some coaches don't like that. I
think it's an open market and Ilove it for the players, and so
I just think that college basketball isdifferent. It's a changing landscape. We
have to embrace it. We're stillgetting a good product, but even the
way you used to go about winningis differently. Like a couple of years
ago, it was get as manyone and done guys as possible. Now
(04:25):
you're seeing that a lot of thebetter teams are the older team. But
NC State has a bunch of guysthat are twenty three, twenty four years
old. These guys can can,These guys are allowed to vote by alcohol
and rick cards like that. They'reold. It's all legal, it's all
above board. They're old. You'vegot a twenty three twenty four years old
and so I think everything in collegebasketball is changing. Older teams are winning,
(04:47):
nil is leveling the playing field,even even the blue bloods. It's
not the same. It's not thesame now because before the he go to
Carolina and get to the league.Now, guys like, well, I
can go to the league from anywhere, but this school's gonna pay me eight
hundred thousand dollars what you got.So it's a totally different basket. It's
a totally different brand of basketball,and I love it. All right.
(05:09):
Let me ask you a question,all right, honestly, how much nil
was going on at Carolina before nil? And Man, I'm gonna tell you.
I'm gonna tell you, like this, my first year at Carolina,
I drove. I drove a Camrystation wagon. Okay, so if there
was, if there was nil goingon at Carolina, I obviously didn't get
(05:32):
to check. Maybe I wouldn't goodenough to get the bag because it ain't
nobody getting big money driving a camerastation wagon. Wow. I love it.
Well. Brendan Hayward is with usagain, former Carolina star courtesy a
bet online dot net. All right, so give us a take on what
happens. Who's playing Monday night?Who wins the whole thing? I'd be
a fool not to go with Yukon. Yukon's been dominant. They're one of
(05:56):
the best combinations of offense and defensethat we have in this league. Coach
Hurley is an incredible job. Andthe thing that impresses me the most is
watch Ukon sets. I'm a truebasketball purist. Their sets in the half
court is beautiful. It's poetry emotion. There's pin down screens, there's flare
screens, there's back screens, there'sweak side action. This isn't some of
(06:17):
these off college offenses where they're justrunning the dribble weed. No, this
is legit NBA sets. They're runningstrong side action to tilt the floor and
then they're taking advantage of you onthe week side with a pin down or
any any type of screen to geta shooter open or a quick slip off
that Yukon runs some of the bestaction I've seen over the last couple of
(06:39):
seasons in the half court, andthen they can lock you down and defend.
So I gotta go with Yukon.I love it, all right,
man, great stuff. Appreciate this, enjoy the basketball this week, and
then we'll talk down the road.Buddy. Thank you pal. All right,
appreciate you. Thanks for having me, you bet man. Brendan Haywood
with us again. Former Carolina stardid not get a taste of the nil
before nil. Too bad for him. If he was playing now, oh
(07:00):
man, it'd be a different story. He would not be driving that station
wagon at all. We're gonna breaka lot. More to come from Phoenix.
We got the managers with a dayoff going to Milwaukee tomorrow. What
the hell happened yesterday? Good God? All that and more from the Final
Four coming up on ninety three tothree KJRFM.
Thank you so much for jumping onthe air with us and joining us.
And I gotta first of all askyou about just your days as a North
Carolina tar heel. I'm a Huskyfan, and I gotta be honest with
you. If Oregon were here,I'd be vomiting all over this place.
How hard is it for you towatch NC State in the final four as
a tar heel? It's not thathard for me. It's simply this NC
(00:22):
State did me a service. Theymade sure State didn't get there. I
understand Carolina and State arrivals, butthe robbery runs a lot deeper with Duke.
So just the fact that State madesure that Duke did make it to
the final four. They're all goodwith me right now. I love that
I got you well. Brendan Haywoodagain is with us, and we're just
talking to Robbie Humble a while back, the former produce star Brendan about you
(00:42):
con and why they don't get mentionedin the same breath as the Carolinas and
the Dukes and the Kentucky's. Theygot three championships with three different coaches in
the last ten twelve years, forgod sakes, yet nobody puts them in
that blue blood class. Why isthat? I'm not sure why it is,
but I tell you what has tochange. Yukon is definitely in the
blue blood class. Like you said, they have three championships with three different
(01:06):
coaches. You're talking Jim Calhoun,Coach Hurley, Kevin Ollie. That's three
different coaches that just talks to youabout how strong the program has been.
Even though there's been turnover, there'sbeen championship level basketball being played up there.
So I think Yukon, especially ifthey pull off another championship, but
back to back, which rarely getsdone in college basketball or in sports in
(01:26):
general, you definitely have to mentionthem with the elite blue bloods like Carolina
and Duke. Yeah, no question. Brendan Hayward again with us courtesy a
bet online dot NAT. Check outbet online for the most up to date
men's and women's game lines and uniqueprops for the Final Four. And I
was gonna ask Robbie and never gota chance to do it about just the
wounded animal you know of NC State. They got nothing to lose, They're
(01:47):
not even supposed to be here.Man, how dangerous do you think they
really are? When it comes tothis matchup with Purdue on Saturday. I
think NC State is dangerous because atthis time of the year, anybody can
beat anybody's one and done setting.One guy can have an incredible night,
or your team can just shoot theball poorly. So in that type of
setting, unlike the NBA where you'replaying like the best of seven, like,
(02:10):
in this type of setting, everybody'sdangerous. But I do feel that
NC State is very fortunate because theirlast couple of opponents have missed wide open
threes at an alarming rate. ThatMarquette game, Marquette was three for thirty
one from three, and a lotof those threes there wasn't a State player
within five yards of the guys shooting. The guys were just missing open shots.
(02:31):
This is a Yukon team. Brendanand again Brendan Haywood whether that it's
just been pummeling people going back tothe Big East Championship against Marquette, but
they have been beaten. They're notsome unbeatable juggernaut that nobody has taken down.
So if you're Alabama, if you'renatos right, if you're looking for
some magic recipe to bring down thethousand pounds giant in the Yukon Huskies.
(02:53):
What's your game plan Saturday for that? Well, the good thing for Alabama
is the only way for them tobeat you gone is the way they beat
everybody hit a lot of threes.One way Alabama's gonna win that game is
if they go into that mid pickand roll with the big fellow who's gonna
be in drop coverage and they exploitit and whether that Sears or whoever,
they have to knock down a bunchof threes, make sure that drop coverage
(03:15):
works against Yukon and figure that out. If they can do that, they
can win the basketball game. Yeah. Former North Carolina star Brendan Haywood again
with us on the air courtesy abet online dot networth at the Final Four.
And Man, I'm wondering about justyour thoughts on the changing landscape of
college basketball. You know, ourteam, the Huskies Washington heading to the
Big Ten next year with USC,UCLA and Oregon n I L. You
(03:38):
know guys transferring after a year,coaches leaving right and left. What's your
take on just the entire thing andhow rapid the rate of change has been
the last couple of years. Yougot embrace change because college basketball is changing.
Like you said, the conferences,I think Stanford's gonna be in the
ACC next year. Like that's that'sgonna be wild for me to see.
We're gonna we're talking about guys gettingpaid now. So now these coaches have
(04:02):
to re recruit their own guys,and some coaches don't like that. I
think it's an open market and Ilove it for the players, and so
I just think that college basketball isdifferent. It's a changing landscape. We
have to embrace it. We're stillgetting a good product, but even the
way you used to go about winningis differently. Like a couple of years
ago, it was get as manyone and done guys as possible. Now
(04:25):
you're seeing that a lot of thebetter teams are the older team. But
NC State has a bunch of guysthat are twenty three, twenty four years
old. These guys can can,These guys are allowed to vote by alcohol
and rick cards like that. They'reold. It's all legal, it's all
above board. They're old. You'vegot a twenty three twenty four years old
and so I think everything in collegebasketball is changing. Older teams are winning,
(04:47):
nil is leveling the playing field,even even the blue bloods. It's
not the same. It's not thesame now because before the he go to
Carolina and get to the league.Now, guys like, well, I
can go to the league from anywhere, but this school's gonna pay me eight
hundred thousand dollars what you got.So it's a totally different basket. It's
a totally different brand of basketball,and I love it. All right.
(05:09):
Let me ask you a question,all right, honestly, how much nil
was going on at Carolina before nil? And Man, I'm gonna tell you.
I'm gonna tell you, like this, my first year at Carolina,
I drove. I drove a Camrystation wagon. Okay, so if there
was, if there was nil goingon at Carolina, I obviously didn't get
(05:32):
to check. Maybe I wouldn't goodenough to get the bag because it ain't
nobody getting big money driving a camerastation wagon. Wow. I love it.
Well. Brendan Hayward is with usagain, former Carolina star courtesy a
bet online dot net. All right, so give us a take on what
happens. Who's playing Monday night?Who wins the whole thing? I'd be
a fool not to go with Yukon. Yukon's been dominant. They're one of
(05:56):
the best combinations of offense and defensethat we have in this league. Coach
Hurley is an incredible job. Andthe thing that impresses me the most is
watch Ukon sets. I'm a truebasketball purist. Their sets in the half
court is beautiful. It's poetry emotion. There's pin down screens, there's flare
screens, there's back screens, there'sweak side action. This isn't some of
(06:17):
these off college offenses where they're justrunning the dribble weed. No, this
is legit NBA sets. They're runningstrong side action to tilt the floor and
then they're taking advantage of you onthe week side with a pin down or
any any type of screen to geta shooter open or a quick slip off
that Yukon runs some of the bestaction I've seen over the last couple of
(06:39):
seasons in the half court, andthen they can lock you down and defend.
So I gotta go with Yukon.I love it, all right,
man, great stuff. Appreciate this, enjoy the basketball this week, and
then we'll talk down the road.Buddy. Thank you pal. All right,
appreciate you. Thanks for having me, you bet man. Brendan Haywood
with us again. Former Carolina stardid not get a taste of the nil
before nil. Too bad for him. If he was playing now, oh
(07:00):
man, it'd be a different story. He would not be driving that station
wagon at all. We're gonna breaka lot. More to come from Phoenix.
We got the managers with a dayoff going to Milwaukee tomorrow. What
the hell happened yesterday? Good God? All that and more from the Final
Four coming up on ninety three tothree KJRFM.
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